Ideas for a bonfire night party
If there isn’t an organised event near you - or you fancy staying in and keeping your petrified pooch company - there are lots of things to do on bonfire night. Why not brighten up your evening with a bonfire night party?
Get your glow on with some disco-themed fun this Guy Fawkes night. So black lights at the ready and prepare to party. Glow sticks can be your own indoor fireworks – use them as wands to wave or turn into jewellery to help you shine. And if you make it all white on the night with your outfits, you’re sure to really stand out.
No party is complete without music, so create your own disco-mix with tunes from the 80s and 90s. If you’re stuck for moves, children especially will love bonfire night party games. Musical fireworks is a great game to play with younger members of the family and friends. While the music plays, whizz around like fireworks and make your biggest and best firework shape when it stops. You can shout out firework names like ‘Catherine wheel’, so everyone has to spin around; and ‘rocket’, so dancers must crouch down and then jump as high as they can.
You’ll need a break after all that dancing so gather round a firepit to enjoy toasting marshmallows, munching on toffee apples, sipping hot chocolate and singing campfire songs.
Bonfire night crafts
Whether you’re making decorations for your bonfire party or you want to get little ones immersed in November 5th fun, there are many bonfire night at home craft ideas.
It’s easy to create your own paper rockets that’ll zoom across the room. You need coloured paper, crayons, tape, glue and a straw. Get your child to decorate the paper, put glue on one of the longer edges, then roll the paper around a pencil. Press the glued edge down to form a tube. When dry, pull off the pencil, and close the top of the ‘rocket’ with tape. Insert a paper straw into the open end, and your child is ready to blow and blast-off!
To make a ‘sparkler’, get a super-sized paper straw and coloured tissue paper (orange, yellow and red will be perfect). Cut into rectangular strips and layer, sticking together on one side with tape. Cut upwards to create thin strips, leaving 1cm at the top, then fasten around the end of the straw.
Kids will also love to create their very own exploding volcano experiment, which uses bi-carb to create an eruption - but do it outside or in the bath because it’s messy!
Use an empty plastic bottle for your volcano, fixed to a plastic tray underneath. Decorate your volcanic scene with felt or scraps of material and add moss to the tray.
For the eruption, mix a cup of warm water with some red food colouring and around four teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda. To make your volcano explode, pour in some vinegar, wait a moment and wait for the lava to rise up and erupt out of the top!
Bonfire night food ideas
On a wintry night, there’s nothing like cosying up in front of your fire with comforting dishes. Bonfire night is a great excuse for a fabulous feast.
BBC Good Food’s cracking Sticky Cider Onion Hot Dogs by Esther Clarke are so simple. Melt butter and oil in a pan, add onions and salt and fry until caramelised. Add cider and simmer until reduced, then add sugar and vinegar. Cook the sausages, put in finger rolls and cover with the onions and a mustard/mayo mix.
For more bonfire finger food ideas, we love bonfire night cheesy baked potatoes. Simply cook your potatoes in the microwave until soft, cut in half and scoop out the middle into a bowl. Mix in a little milk and some butter and a really good handful of grated cheddar cheese. Why not add your chillies or grain mustard for a little heat, your favourite herbs, or even some chorizo or nduja to give them a kick? Return the mix to the potato skins and cook in the oven for 20 minutes or until crisp.
For something sweet, try making a super simple recipe children will love – bonfire crispy cakes. Coat cereal bran sticks with melted milk chocolate to create the base of your bonfire. Top with swirls of flame coloured buttercream or cut out flame shapes from fondant icing to decorate. Add a cocktail stick with some mini marshmallows across the top to finish.
Fireworks at home
You can’t be too careful. No-one wants to remember bonfire night for all the wrong reasons. So whether you’re at an official display or you decide to set off fireworks at home never forget to follow firework safety advice. Make sure you know how to stay safe on bonfire night and remember it is illegal to set off fireworks between 11pm and 7am except on bonfire night when the cut-off point is midnight.
If you use sparklers - and who doesn’t like writing their name in the air - do it safely.
- Don’t give sparklers to under-5s
- Wear gloves, hold sparklers at arm’s length while being lit and light one at a time
- Don’t wave sparklers close to people<
- Never hold a baby while holding a sparkler<
- Put finished sparklers in cold water
Tune out the noise with a family night
Animals can be scared but the RSPCA has lots of suggestions for keeping them safe and calm.
One way to keep pets and young children occupied is a family film night, so prepare your stack of treats and ask people to choose their favourite movie to watch. Turn up the volume to create a cinema experience and cover up those bangs outside.
And don’t forget to look out for other wildlife - keep a lookout for hedgehogs and use blankets over outdoor hutches to muffle sounds so rabbits and guinea pigs aren’t spooked too!
